Gov. Pence Confident In Economic Future, Despite Low Revenue

Posted December 11, 2013

Governor Pence says he wants to keep an open mind heading into legislative debate on the issue of raising local income taxes.

Governor Mike Pence says he’s still very confident in Indiana’s economic future, even though the state is experiencing recent revenue shortfalls.

Indiana tax collections were under target four of the first five months of the fiscal year.

After a particularly weak November, revenues are now more than $140 million below expectations.

Pence announced Monday cuts to state agency and university budgets to help make up the difference.

Yet one of the governor’s top priorities for the upcoming legislative session is a phase-out of the state’s business personal property tax, a levy on business equipment that brings in about a billion dollars a year to local governments.

Pence calls it a barrier to economic development but says he doesn’t think of his plan as a tax cut, but rather tax reform.

“As you look at options I know that we’ll be talking to members of the General Assembly about how that might be able to be phased in. We’ve heard some people talk about different scenarios where counties could consider doing that on an individualized basis,” Pence says. “There’s also the issue of different kinds of taxes that would replace that that wouldn’t be such a barrier.”

Pence says he is not in favor of raising local income taxes to offset the revenue loss but wants to keep an open mind heading into legislative debate on the issue.

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